Among the many quirks of the MLB Draft: College baseball is still holding its postseason tournament.

So local baseball fans got an opportunity to see exactly what the hype is about after the Tigers selected Auburn right-hander Casey Mize first overall last week.

It was Mize vs. Florida in an NCAA Super Regional Saturday on ESPN’s main network. And Mize vs. Brady Singer, the latter another first-round pick (18th overall by Kansas City), in a key game.

Remember how everybody raved about Mize’s control? He was walked four and hit a batter. Remember how his splitter was widely-evaluated as a so-called “plus-plus” pitch? Well, it was flat as a pancake. Mize’s breaking ball, too.

Advertisement

Worse yet, Mize’s fastball is down a tick or two from early this season - and he didn’t throw all that hard for a first overall selection to begin with. He pretty much sat at 94 mph without much late movement Saturday.

Ah, it’s way too early to rush to judgement on Mize. I agree. Yet, his outing Saturday was nonetheless disconcerting. He’s posted a 3.30 ERA and allowed 10 home runs in 114 2-3 innings while allegedly “dominating” college baseball. Frankly, he’s not throwing nearly as well in recent weeks.

Saturday’s outing, and others recently, should make the Tigers’ decision with Mize moving forward a simple one. They need to follow a similar path as with Alex Faedo, their first-round selection from Florida in 2017. Let him rest his arm. Work with him extensively. The Tigers’ biomechnical staff has evaluated a flaw in his delivery they see as very correctable, and it should up Mize’s velocity to the same level as early this season when he hit 97 mph. They were aware of the flaw before the draft, and figured it into the equation. The Tigers are leaning toward having Mize pitch in five or six minor league games after an extended rest, but only for an inning or two per outing, and then turning him loose starting at high-A Lakeland in 2019, where the weather is warm in April, and it’s the appropriate level of competition for Mize to begin pro ball in earnest.

Mize has thrown a lot of innings in a limited span. Justin Verlander didn’t pitch his first summer after being taken second overall by the Tigers in 2004 because of contract issues. Then, during first season of pro ball, he threw just 118 innings in the minor leagues (11 more in MLB).

By the next season, he was American League Rookie of the Year. And Verlander has had relatively few arm issues.

Just last season, Tigers’ 2015 first-round pick Beau Burrows, at 20, pitched only 135 innings in a five-month period. He will throw roughly the same number of innings this season.

To me, Mize had a sign written all over him Saturday - “Handle with Care.”

Mize is a top prospect. This isn’t meant to throw cold water on his selection. I would have taken him first overall, too. This was a difficult draft to gauge at the very top end. But some of the hype surrounding Mize was ridiculous - like he is good enough to help a contending MLB team late this season.

First of all, he doesn’t have the type of fastball where he would be able to set up his off-speed pitches with it at the MLB level. Actually, it’s the opposite. His off-speed pitches would have to set up his fastball, at least at this point. Secondly, throwing him into the fire after having worked so many innings at Auburn would be flat-out irresponsible.

To put it in prospective, Mize has pitched 21 more innings than Verlander, the MLB leader in that category, entering Sunday.

It’d be wise for the Tigers to err on the side of caution with Mize, especially considering the injury concerns that come with throwing a split-finger pitch. Also, Mize had the red flag of a forearm issue last year.

Saturday’s outing, in the bigger picture of Mize’s professional career, was largely meaningless.

Preaching patience for a first overall selection often is met with deaf ears from the fanbase, but there will be a significant learning curve and adjustment period for Mize in professional baseball.

He is not nearly as MLB-ready as some have advertised. Not even remotely.

His outing Saturday - and some others later in the college season - pointed out exactly why.